


Coda to 5x6

by JillyBeans_storycorner



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Bromance, Coda to 5x6, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, I have a lot of feels when it comes to Danny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 15:58:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6812287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JillyBeans_storycorner/pseuds/JillyBeans_storycorner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Like what the very uncreative title say, this is a coda to episode 5x6, "Ho'oma'ike" (Unmasked).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coda to 5x6

Driving was good. Driving would force him to think straight, to concentrate on something, anything else. At least that was the idea, but a hell of a lot of good it was doing. He’d never understood people who said that driving ‘relaxed’ them; personally he found having to deal with road ragers, speeding kids on cell phones, and idiots going approximately seven miles under the speed limit on top of traffic was as far from relaxing as you could get. And then there was the aimlessness to it. Danny had always felt the need to be actively doing something, going somewhere, accomplishing something other than just wasting gas. But right now what else could he do?

He couldn’t go home. The thought of wandering around an empty house, the living room was where it all started, was even worse. Rachel had taken Grace to stay with Stan in Vegas a few days after the funeral; they wouldn’t be back until the weekend. He didn’t hold it against her; she’d been nothing but supportive and comforting the entire time in Jersey, not just for him but the entire family. It was the least he could do, and besides, Grace needed a break from all the grieving. The look on his baby girl’s face when he told her Uncle Matty was gone…Still, he’d selfishly give anything to be holding his daughter right now. 

Maybe he should have taken up Steve’s offer to come back to his place, but somehow the idea of sitting with Steve in his backyard having a beer didn’t sit right with him. He knew it would be comforting, and he didn’t want to be comforted right now, he wanted, well, honestly he didn’t know what he wanted.

He wanted to figure out where he was going. Make a plan. Maybe he might luck out and find a place that had batting cages. Swinging a bat with all his might and hitting the shit out of a ball coming in at 70mph, that was relaxing to him. The satisfying crack of wood striking leather, the vibrations through his fingertips and all the way up to his shoulder, the rush of the air from the force of the swing, that could take his mind off just about anything. He’d averaged four home runs a game after he’d found out Alyssa Trivellato had been caught by the cops doing Garret Haymen in the back of her parent’s car, and that she’d just been waiting till after prom to break up with him. Story of his life. Matty had been there for him then too: 

 

_They needed two more runs to clinch the game, and there was a man on second. Matt’s voice came roaring over the crowd._

_“Hey, Danny! Pretend it’s Hayman’s face!”_

_The pitch came and went._

_“Ball One!” the ump cried. He dug in his heel._

_“All right, this one’s a slut who said she loved you and lied about it!”_

_He’d hit that one out of the park, and Matt got grounded for two weeks. ___

He took the turn a little faster than he should have and if it weren’t for his quick reflexes he probably would have hit the divider. _Maybe he should get off the road for a few minutes._ He pulled into the first place he came across with a drive-through and ordered a coffee. He really should eat something, but he didn’t fell like it. He hadn’t felt like it in days, and there was no one here to encourage him to do so. He sat in the parking lot sipping his coffee. He hadn’t felt like sleeping much lately either, and when he did manage to doze off, he was jolted awake almost instantly by nightmares. The coffee was terrible and Danny knew it probably wouldn’t do much good, but he absentmindedly sipped it anyway to give himself something to do. He turned and looked out the window. The place he had stopped at was a run of the mill fast food joint with a kids’ playroom attached, incased in glass so that parents would be powerless to the unrelenting pleas of their children to stop there. This particular one even boasted a ball pit… 

_Their senior prank would go down in history. He’d had to get up at 3am to sneak out of the house and meet the rest of the ‘committee’ but it was well worth it to know that the underclassmen and faculty would spend the day trudging through the giant ball pit they’d created in the main commons, with a large banner hung over it baring the message: “Have a ball! From the Class of ‘94” He’d been riding high all day, until Dad found a stray plastic ball in the back of the car and chewed him out for a solid half-an-hour with his ‘I Was Under the Impression You Wanted to be a Police Officer’ speech. He’d laid miserably on his bed until Matt came bursting through the door and practically jumped on him._

_“That was the greatest day ever! You’re the coolest! Everybody’s talking about it, and Ferguson’s so pissed! I got to miss homeroom, aka biology, because he had us all rounded up in the gym to talk about ‘responsible disobedience’ and ‘the consequences of so called ‘senior pranks’! Seriously big bro, you are a god!”_

 

He took another sip of coffee only to find it empty. With a sigh he tossed the cup into the back seat and put the car in drive again. Maybe he should go home and call Rachel, check on Grace. When he’d kissed her goodbye at the airport she’d been half asleep, wrapped up in the Hudson University sweatshirt cousin Erik had given her. _God that kid had really grown-up._ He’d spent almost their entire visit sitting in the den with his arm around Grace, watching endless hours of Gossip Girl with her without complaint…. 

_“It’s ok Matty.”_

_“No it’s not! Everybody laughed at me. They all think I’m a chicken.”_

_“I don’t think you’re a chicken.”_

_“You’re my brother. You have to say that.”_

_“Tell you what. We’ll go back up there together. I’ll tell the lifeguard we’re racing so we can go down at the same time and I’ll catch you at the bottom. Sound good?”_

_Matty glanced nervously at the twin drop slides._

_“You do it and I’ll go with you to see any movie you want for the rest of the summer.”_

_“Deal!”_

A car horn screeched and Danny swerved out of the lane he’d been drifting into. He needed to get off the road. No, he needed to get somewhere with less traffic. Like a blessing he saw a sign for ‘Kahana Valley State Park, Next Exit’. That would do it. In no time at all he found himself on empty roads, with his foot a little too heavy on the accelerator.

_“Come on, come they’re closing in five minutes and I’m starving! Drive it like you stole it big brother!”_

“You do realize I’m gonna be a cop right?” he told the empty seat.

And the tires screeched as his hands followed his eyes. He jerked the wheel back over and slammed on the breaks, skidding to a halt on the side of the road, missing being wrapped around a tree by inches. Danny stared ahead in shock, breathing heavily, a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel; his foot smashing the break peddle into the floor. _He must have fallen asleep for a second. Either that or he was hallucinating, because he swore Matt had been right there in the passenger seat next to him._

He ran a shaking hand over his face trying to get a grip on himself. He reached over to throw the car into park only to find the gear jammed. Tentatively, he eased off the breaks, nothing moved. He undid his seatbelt and climbed out of the car, the problem was easy enough to figure out. Though he’d managed to avoid the trees, a large jagged boulder had jutted up from the landscape for the sole purpose of crushing in the front of his car. _After all these years this damn island was still out to get him._

Letting out a sting of just about every curse word he knew, Danny took out his phone and _Of course! No service!_ He clambered back into the car and tried the radio. Dead too. _It would have been embarrassing to have to explain this to dispatch anyways._ With a sigh he took the atlas of Oahu he’d bought when he first came to the island out of the glove box and flipped to the maps of Kahana Valley. Using a pen he traced the road from the exit he took to roughly the spot he thought he was. He estimated he couldn’t have gotten more than twenty miles in. 

_All right so from the looks of it, if he stayed along the road and kept heading West there was a parking lot for a trail head about seven miles away. Fantastic. The other option would be to cut through the jungle, heading northeast, for two and a half miles, where there was a picnic area, and hopefully people, if not, at the very least, cell service._ Danny looked up at the sky; gray clouds were rolling in, there was a good chance it would start raining soon. He sighed. As much as he hated the jungle, he hated being caught out in the rain more. He traced the path to the picnic area on the map with the pen and snapped a picture of it on his phone, it would be a lot easier than carrying the whole damn thing with him, and grudgingly started trekking through the jungle.

*******************************

Steve sat sprawled out on his couch, ideally flipping through the channels. He wondered if he should try calling Danny, but his partner had made it pretty clear that he wanted to be alone. _Maybe he’d get the team together this weekend, do something to take Danny’s mind of things, remind him he’s got a family that’s here for him here in addition to the one back in New Jersey._  
His thoughts were interrupted by the shrill screaming of an emergency alert flashing across the bottom of the screen, warning against incoming heavy rain, damaging winds, and flash flood watches. Steve sighed, so much for going running after dinner. Maybe he’d call the team now, including Danny. _If they’re gonna be stuck inside, might as well get everyone together for beers and bad movies._ His thoughts were interrupted again, this time by his phone ringing.

“McGarrett.”

“Steve, it’s Sgt. Lukela.”  
“Hey, Duke, what’s going on?” Steve asked, knowing it wasn’t a social call but sincerely hoping it hand nothing to do with a dead body.

“You haven’t heard from Danny recently, have you?” 

Steve’s blood ran cold.

“I just saw him this afternoon. Why what happened?”

“His car was found disabled on the side of the road in Kahana Valley, but there’s no sign of him anywhere.”

Steve jumped up from the couch and grabbed his keys off the side table.

“I’ll be right there.” he said and raced out the door. 

************************************

Danny trudged along through the thick brush. _This was a stupid idea, a really stupid idea. Who did he think he was, Steve?_ He wasn’t sure exactly how long he’d been walking, but he was sure he should have reached the picnic area by now. The air was saturated with moisture and his sweat-soaked shirt was sticking uncomfortably to his back. The coffee he’d had earlier was dehydrating him fast. He needed to take a break, just a few minutes though. The sky was only getting darker and he could hear a roll of distant thunder.

He slumped back against a tree and closed his eyes. _Just for a second. He just needed a second to regroup, then he’d get out of here and wait it out in the car. He wasn’t lost. He knew exactly how to get back. He wasn’t lost..._

_“Daniel Jacob Williams! Where have you been? And where is your brother?”_

He chuckled to himself.

_“Guess we lost him.”_

_“This ends one of two ways big brother. You either shoot me, or you say good-bye.”_

“Guess we lost him…”

*******************************

“Duke!” Steve called, leaping out of the truck and running over the where a small knot of uniforms was gathered. “Duke what happened? Where’s Danny? Have you found him?”

The sergeant shook his head. “Conservation officers found Danny’s car on the side of the road about twenty minutes ago. It looks like he skidded off the road, crashed into a bolder, and went off looking for help. We don’t have any evidence he was hurt.”

There was something in Duke’s voice when he said that last bit that gave Steve pause. A shiver ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the falling temperature. 

“Duke? What else? What aren’t you telling me?”

“We found an atlas in the car, open to a map of Kahana Valley.” Duke said with a sigh “It had some marking on it. From what we could tell Danny though he could just cut through the jungle and reach a picnic area in two miles. Only he seriously miscalculated exactly where it was he crashed. Steve he’s hiking straight into dense jungle.”

“Um, ok.” Steve ran a hand over his face; his heart felt like it was skipping every other beat. “Ok who’s in charge right now?”

“Capt. Reeves, Search and Rescue.” Duke said, indicating to a man with salt and pepper hair, “But he’s suspending the search until after the storm pas-“\

Steve didn’t let him finish before he was charging over to the captain.

“Excuse me, Capt. Reeves? Steve McGarrett, Five-0. What do you mean you’re suspending the search?” 

“I’ve got no choice.” Reeves replied. “We’ve got a tropical storm about to hit and I need all available resources evacuating the park.” 

“Sir, with all do respect that’s my partner out there. I know him. He may be a cop, but out here he’s as helpless as any tourist. We have to keep looking.”

“McGarrett, I understand, believe me I do. We’ve had our own go missing before. But you have to understand that we’ve all ready executed a full five mile search grid and turned up nothing. Finding your partner is going to require a full operation, one that I can’t executed as soon as this storm hits, and this whole valley gets washed out. I’m sorry but I have no choice but to prioritize in this situation.” 

“Look, I understand you can’t risk your men. Ok? But let me go out there and find him. I spent six years with the SEALs, I’m trained for these kinds of operations, and I’m not leaving my man out there. Please. I take full responsibility for myself, all I need is a rescue pack, sir.”

Reeve’s fixed him with a hard look, then turned to Duke. “He’s going with or without my consent isn’t he?”

“Respectfully, sir, yes.” Steve replied. 

“All right.” Reeve’s said, motioning for one of his men to bring Steve a pack, “But understand this McGarrett. If you get hurt out there, or if by some miracle you find your missing man, then you’re on your own for the time being. I can’t promise any help or recovery. At least not until after the storm passes.” 

“I understand, Captain. Thank you.” Steve said. He took the pack and dashed back to his truck to retrieve his rain gear, Duke close behind him.

“Steve, are you sure about this?”

“I’m not leaving him out there by himself Duke. Nothing’s gonna change my mind.” 

Duke nodded solemnly. “All right. Good luck. I expect to see you both tomorrow.”

****************************************************

_“Look at me.”_

_Reyes was pined under his hand like a cockroach about to be crushed by a shoe. The muggy, stinking, air seemed to absolutely buzz with anticipation. Reyes looked up at him with those empty, black, eyes. If this was going to end, it ended here. Suddenly, the face beneath his gun morphed, until it wasn’t Reyes’ staring back at him, but Matt._

_“Why Matty? Huh? Why’d you do it? What about Mom and Dad? What about Grace? What about me, Matty?”_

_“I’m not strong enough. I’m not you, Danny.” his brother’s voice echoed like a ghost from a broken loud speaker._

_“This ends one of two whys big brother. You either shot me or you say goodbye.” But the voice wasn’t his brother’s anymore. The face was morphing back into Reyes’, it was laughing, cold and cruel-_

_BANG_

_The room was empty now. Silent except for a steady, drip, drip, drip. Something wet and cold was dripping from his hands. Blood. Sticky and red, but ice cold. He tried to wipe it off on his pants, but it just kept coming, flowing stronger now, and not just from his hands, but all over him. He was drenched in it. Matt appeared in font of him, looking like he did the last time he’d ever see him._

_“Why Danny? Huh? Why’d you do it? What about Mom and Dad? What about Grace? What about me, big brother? Why didn’t you help me!"_

_“I tried! Matty I tried! I tried to help you, you wouldn’t let me.”_

_“I gave you a choice! You could have put one in my shoulder. Handcuffed me to the fence. I’d be in jail, but I’d be alive!” Cold, rotting, hands were gripping his arms painfully, freezing him to the bone. He tried to pull always, shrink back from the stench of death and blood and rot all around him, but he couldn’t escape._

_Because he didn’t deserve to._

_“You were supposed to be my big brother Danny. You were supposed to look out for me. WHY DIDN’T YOU SAVE ME?”_

Danny snapped awake, gasping for air. But he was still trapped in the nightmare. He must be. Otherwise how could he still be soaking wet and so cold he was shivering from it? How was the dripping sound still there, along with the howl of the vengeful ghosts coming to claim him…?

It wasn’t until a drop of water rolled off a leaf and onto the tip of his nose did he realize it was raining. Not just raining, an absolute monsoon had descended over him. Even under the relative shelter of the trees he was drenched. The rain seemed to be coming in sideways, pelting him relentlessly. The ferocious, roaring wind was pulling the trees this way and that. The ground below him had turned to mud. He had to get out of here, fast.

Danny leaped up from his spot and started scurrying back down in the direction he thought he’d came. Only the way back was slightly down sloped and his shoes provided almost no traction on the slippery ground. He only made it about five feet before the speed of his frantic pace, and his less-than-ideal-for-the-present-situation shoes and the muddy earth below, sent him sliding to the ground. His right ankle twisted underneath him and a jolt of excruciating pain blasted from it, causing him to cry out. 

“SON OF A BITCH!” 

It hurt. Hurt like the time he’d blown his ACL and he knew it was sprained, at the very least. He gritted his teeth and clutched his torn ankle. There was no way he was walking out of here now. He laughed out loud to himself. _This is fantastic. He was going to be wild bore food, and leave Grace an orphan because he couldn’t handle his shit like an adult. Absolutely fantastic._

Right on cue the storm seemed to intensify. The rain was coming down in sheets, making visibility almost non-existent. The wind was harsher and louder than ever, _and how is it this cold in Hawaii? And when did he stop shivering….He was pretty sure he’d been shivering before. Not good. Defiantly not good._

“Of course.” he laughed to himself again. “I’ll be the first person to die of hypothermia in the tropics. If you’re gonna go out at least make it memorable right?” he called out to the jungle. 

“Dude, I would so leave your ass to die in Jurassic Park.” Matt leaned over and whispered to him. The movie was playing on the giant screen, a large popcorn perched on the arm rest between them.

“I want you to leave my ass to die in Jurassic Park. If I’m going out I’d rather get eaten by a dinosaur than popped by a lucky shot from some drug dealing thug. At least that way it’d be memorable.”

_Oh god, he was really losing it now. He was defiantly hearing voices._

“-ny!” _And there were the voices again. Except this one was farther off, and muffled by the rain. Maybe adrenaline was kicking in and he was starting to get a grip…or maybe he was just close to passing out._

“Danny!” The voice sounded closer this time. It also sounded familiar…but not Matty’s…

“DANNY!” 

“STEVE?” he called back, _because, yeah, that was defiantly Steve’s voice, even though it’s most likely another hallucination, because Steve doesn’t know where he is. No one does. But it’s not like there’s anyone here to witness him daydreaming up his partner to come save him like some damsel in distress, and god, this is more embarrassing than the time he got his wisdom teeth out and kept talking about the Keebler Elves fighting the Jersey Devil for control of the forest-_

But he could just make out a hulking form, half hidden by the rain.

“Danny?”

“Steve! Steve I’m over here!”

A few sloshing footsteps and Steve was at his side, dressed in full rain gear, and crouching next to him.

“Danny! Danny are you ok?”

“How’d you find me?” Danny groaned.

“They called me when they found your car on the side of the road. Jesus, Danno, what happened? Are you hurt?”

“My ankle’s busted. And ask the risk of complaining, I’m a little wet. And cold.”

“How cold?” Steve asked urgently “How long have you been out here?”

“I’m not sure. I was trying to find help, but then I stopped for a minute and I must have fallen asleep, cause when I woke up it was raining…Steve, I think I stopped shivering about a minute ago.”

“No, pal, you’re still shivering. It’s ok. You probably just can’t feel anything over the pain in your ankle. Still, we gotta get you out of here. Do you think you can walk if I help you?”

“I’ll try.” Danny said, throwing an arm over his eyes, bracing himself for what was about to happen. 

“All right on the count of three” Steve said, positioning himself behind Danny’s head and gripping him under his shoulders. “One…two…three…” 

Danny gritted his teeth and tried to suppress the loud cry of pain that escaped him as shock waves rocked his body. Steve pulled Danny’s left arm around his shoulders and transfer as much of Danny’s weight as he could onto that side.

“All right. Good job, buddy. You did good. All right, there’s a hunting post about 300 yards from here that’ll make for good shelter. You can make it all right. Just lean on me.” 

Every step was excruciating, but Danny kept going, least Steve get any ideas about carry him. The storm and the wet ground made moving twice as hard and ten times as miserable, and crossing those 300 yards seemed to take hours. By the time they reached the post, which looked like a shed with shuttered windows, Steve was half dragging, half carrying Danny along. He leaned his exhausted, injured, partner against the wall, making sure it was taking almost all of his weight, and opened the latch. Then he quickly hoisted Danny inside and secured the door behind them. 

The inside of the post was dark and cramped, but it was dry and the shutters were doing an excellent job of keeping out the wind. Steve carefully lowered Danny so that he was sitting against the wall and started removing his shoes and shocks, pausing briefly to examine his ankle.

“I can’t tell if it’s a sprain or a break. Best I can do is put it in a splint and elevate it, but getting you warm is the first priority.”

Steve shucked off his rain gear and took a space blanket out of the backpack. He then started working at the buttons on Danny’s shirt.

“What are you doing?” Danny mumbled, his head back against the wall, eyes closed. 

“We have to get you warm Danny. Hypothermia can happen anywhere and right now your clothes are wet-“

“Oh, thank you, I didn’t know that.”

“And they’re sucking heat from your body.” Steve concluded, sliding the shirt off Danny’s arms. “Now come, I’m not doing your pants for you.”

Danny groaned but managed to work the buttons of his slacks open. He braced one hand on Steve’s shoulder to lift his hips just enough to push them down to his knees, but the effort made his body give out and Steve took over from there. Sliding the legs down gently, taking great care not to jostle his ankle.

“Don’t even think about the boxers.”

“Trust me Danno, no one wants to see that.” Steve chuckled as he wrapped the blanket tight around Danny, before settling in next to him and tucking him into his side. He ran his hand up and down Danny’s arm, trying desperately to get some warmth into him.

“That’s it buddy, just keep shivering. It’s gonna be all right.” 

Danny muttered something incoherently. 

“What?”

“I said, we’ve been friends too long.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means” Danny chuckled “That we’re in a shed in the middle of the jungle, I’m in my underwear and you’re holding me, and it’s only a little weird. You and I have officially been friends for too long, McGarrett.” 

Steve couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah I guess we have. The shrink’s gonna love this one. Who knows maybe it’ll get her off our backs.”

“Yeah.” Danny replied drowsily, letting his head hit Steve’s shoulder. “Thanks for coming to get me.” 

“Whoa, whoa, Danny stay with me. Come on buddy, I need you to stay awake.”

“ ‘m tired.” Danny mumbled. _He could admit that now. He was exhausted and in pain, and Steve was like a space heater next to him, sleep was too much to resist…_

“Danny!” Steve shook him hard. “Danny I’m sorry, I know you’re tired but you have to stay awake. Danny! Danny! Give me a number between one and eleven.”

“The hell are you talking about?”

“Give me a number between one and eleven. Danny!” Steve shook him again. 

“All right, all right, five.” Danny snapped. 

“Good. Ok, Gracie’s fifth birthday party, tell me about it.”

“I really hate you, you know that.” _The sadist was using the one thing he knew would keep him conscious, even when he didn’t want to be._

“Tell me about Grace’s fifth birthday Danny.” 

“I don’t know. It was the first year we threw her a party outside of just family and a few neighbor kids. We invited the kids in her kindergarten class, took ‘em to Chuck-E-Cheese. Nothing special.” 

“What’s Chuck-E-Cheese like?” Steve prompted, “I’ve only ever heard of it.”

“You never went to Chuck-E-Cheese as a kid?”“I’ve never been to Chuck-E-Cheese, Daniel.” 

“God, I knew you had a deprived childhood, but that’s really messed up my friend. Next you’re gonna tell me you’ve never been to Disneyland either.” 

“Nope. Too far away.” Steve replied, knowing full well he was nudging Danny towards a rant. 

“You’ve never-Not even when you went to visit Deb? I thought she lived in California? What am I saying? Of course you never went to Disneyland, it explains to so much. I weep for your non-existent childhood Steven.”

“And yet, somehow I managed.”

“No, that is because you have no idea what you’re missing. We went to Disney World every year when I was growing up, and I took Grace every summer until Rachel moved her to this god-forsaken island. You will never know joy until you ride Splash Mountain and eat a giant turkey leg for every meal. I remember this one time I dared Matty to eat two of them and then ride Space Mountain, he threw up all over himself and had to walk around in this ridiculous shirt they gave him at the gift shop, it was half a size too small for him and-“ his voice trailed off into silence, prompting Steve to squeeze his shoulder. 

“It’s gonna be ok, Danny.”

"So you keep saying.” Danny said dully. “But Matt’s still gone. We lost him for good this time. And stop looking at me like that.” he snapped suddenly. 

“Like what?” Steve asked looking sheepish. 

“Like you think I did this on purpose. Like I drove out here, accelerated and jerked the wheel, and when that didn’t work I ran off in the jungle to get lost and die of exposure.” 

“I don’t think that Danny. And don’t ever say that again.” Steve wasn’t angry, but there was something about his flat, serious, tone that made Danny wish he’d yelled.

“I’m sorry.”

Steve shook his head. “I’m just worried about you. I know what you’re going through, man-“

“I know you do.”

“And I need you to know that I’m here for you, twenty-four-seven, what ever you need. Even if you don’t know what you need, I’m always just a phone call away. Not just me, but Chin, Kono, Lou, everybody. Whether you like it or not, we’re not gonna let you face this alone.”

Danny nodded and turned away. _Trust the big idiot to know exactly what he needed to hear._

“Why don’t I take a look at your ankle?” Steve said, reaching out and pulling a first aid kit out of the backpack. 

“Any chance you’ve got a SAT phone in there?” Danny asked. 

“I do, but Search and Rescue can’t provide evac until after the brunt of the storm passes, so we might be stuck here for a while.” 

“Oh, goodie, dreams do come tru-OWWW! Easy Dr. Rambo, I’d like to keep that foot if you don’t mind.” 

“Stop whining” Steve said as he wrapped the splint around Danny’s swollen ankle. 

“Animal.” Danny muttered under his breath.

Steve ignored him. “Good news is I think it’s just a sprain. You’ll be back on your feet in no time. There.” he said securing the wrap. “How’s that feel?”

“Better.” Danny conceded. “I’m starting to feel warmer too.” 

“You look a little better.” said Steve. He propped Danny’s ankle up on the backpack, resumed his place and threw his arm back around him. 

“Tell you what, you keep trying to convince me about how excessive sugar and people running around in creepy mouse costumes is vital to normal childhood development for a little longer and then you can sleep for a little bit.” 

“Deal.” Danny said, sinking into the warmth Steve was providing. “Hey Steve?” 

“Yeah Danny?” “Thanks for doing this.” 

“Anytime partner.” 

“I love you. I don’t say it as much as I should-“

“Danny, you don’t have-“ 

“Yes I do. I don’t say it enough. Not to you, not to anyone, except for Grace, but even she could probably stand to hear it more from me. I didn’t say it to Matty the last time, and now I never will. So, just let me say it ok? I love you.” 

“Love you too Danno.”

 

-End.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry for that, but I had to do it. The scene between Danny and Steve at Danny’s special place (and how Steve knew he would be there) was beautiful but I wanted more. I wanted Danny to have the chance to fall apart, when it was just him and Steve and he didn’t have to be strong for Grace, or his parents, or anybody else, so I came up with this. Also it address the big issue I have that in 4x20, they casually say ‘I love you’ to each other like it’s the most natural thing in the world, and they’ve said it everyday of their lives since they’ve know each other, and then nothing after that. They finally broke down the ‘It’s ok to tell your best friend “I love you” barrier’ and then dropped it. And I honestly think that losing Matt would have that effect on Danny, especially with Steve, who is the closet thing he has left to a brother.


End file.
